Ученым из университета штата Техас удалось собрать искусственные мышцы из углеродных нанотрубок. Они способны сокращаться под нагрузкой, превышающую их собственную массу в 2 тысячи раз. Подробности смотрите в 101-м выпуске передачи «Интересное будущее».

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Категория: Двигатели | 6 комментариев »

В представленном ниже интервью приводится обзор систем управления некоторых экзоскелетов, а также дается информация о реабилитационном потенциале данных устройств. Интервью дано доступным широкой аудитории языком.Доктор Феррис является доцентом кафедры изучения движения и кафедры биомедицинской инженерии в Университете штата Мичиган.Профессор Даниэль Феррис получил мировую известность как эксперт в области экзоскелетов.

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Категория: Продвижение | 1 Комментарий »

In this paper, we present a novel approach for teaching motor skills through the use of vibrotactile stimulation. We propose a kinematic-vibrotactile mapping that targets fundamental movements (basic building blocks of human motion) using saltatory vibration patterns where vibrations are delivered and interpreted as movement through a conceptual mapping. Two conceptual mappings are explored: the «follow me» concept and the push/pull metaphor. A user study, approved by a local ethics committee, was conducted to explore how these conceptual mappings affect learnability, recognition accuracy, response time and naturalness. Results show the approach to work effectively with a combination of vibration patterns under each conceptual mapping providing the most useful design.

Категория: Ищем научные статьи | Нет комментариев »

Rehabilitation of hand function is challenging, and only few studies have investigated robotassisted rehabilitation focusing on distal joints of the upper limb. This paper investigates the feasibility of using the HapticKnob, a table-top end-effector device, for robot-assisted rehabilitation of grasping and forearm pronation/supination, two important functions for activities of daily li-ving involving the hand, and which are often impaired in chronic stroke patients. It evaluates the effectiveness of this device for improving hand function and the transfer of improvement to arm function. Methods A single group of fifteen chronic stroke patients with impaired arm and hand functions (Fugl-Meyer motor assessment scale (FM) 10-45/66) participated in a 6-week 3-hours/week reha-bilitation program with the HapticKnob. Outcome measures consisted primarily of the FM and Motricity Index (MI) and their respecti-ve subsections related to distal and proximal arm function, and were assessed at the beginning, end of treatment and in a 6-weeks followup. Results Thirteen subjects successfully completed robot-assisted therapy, with significantly improved hand and arm motor functions, demonstrated by an average 3.00 points increase on the FM and 4.55 on the MI at the completion of the therapy (4.85 FM and 6.84 MI six weeks posttherapy). Improvements were observed both in distal and proximal components of the clinical scales at the completion of the study (2.00 FM wrist/hand, 2.55 FM shoulder/elbow, 2.23 MI hand and 4.23 MI shoulder/elbow). In addition, impro-vements in hand function were observed, as measured by the Motor Assessment Scale, grip force, and a decrease in arm muscle spa-sticity. These results were confirmed by motion data collected by the robot.Conclusions The results of this study show the feasi-bility of this robot-assisted therapy with patients presenting a large range of impairment levels. A significant homogeneous impro-vement in both hand and arm function was observed, which was maintained 6 weeks after end of the therapy.

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Категория: Научные статьи | Нет комментариев »

This paper presents the development of an arm exoskeleton for displaying a force feedback generated from virtual reality. The developed arm exoskeleton allows the user to obtain the sensation of touch along the joints: wrist, elbow and shoulder. To represent the most realistic touching of virtual object, weight of the device and viscosity of each joint should be compensated. Based on the model derived by Lagrange equation, the model can perform quite well however it is sensitive to model uncertainties of mass and joint friction. A torque disturbance observer for robot manipulator is applied to estimate not only the disturbance at each joint, but also the reaction torque from the user.

Категория: Ищем научные статьи | Нет комментариев »